March 1, 2012

CENTERVILLE, Mass. – Top-seeded Rutgers-Newark University (19-8 overall) will host the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Metro Women’s Basketball Championship that will begin on Saturday and conclude on Sunday.  The four-team field also includes No. 3 seed Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, No. 4 seed Brooklyn College and No. 7 seed Stevens Institute of Technology.

The semifinal round pits host Rutgers-Newark against Brooklyn at 6:00 p.m. and Richard Stockton against Stevens at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday.  The semifinal winners will meet on Sunday for the championship match scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.

Rutgers-Newark boasts a 10-2 record at home and will rely on leading scorer senior Kendra Johnson to continue her strong season.  Credited with over 400 points and almost 100 steals on the year, Johnson scored a game-high 28 points while making a career-high eight steals and six assists to lead the Raiders to a quarterfinal win over No. 8 seed Lehman College.  A balanced scoring offense has helped to absorb the absence of sophomore point guard ShaQuanna Marshall who suffered a knee injury in the New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinals. 

No. 3 seed Richard Stockton is 7-6 on the road, 16-12 overall.  Richard Stockton has been led by three-time NJAC all-conference center LaTonya Oliver as the career leader in blocked shots and averaging a double-double in scoring and rebounding this season.  Stockton had five players score in double figures including sophomore forward Lauren Alwan with 13 points and junior guard Che’Na Thompson with 10 points and seven rebounds in the ECAC quarterfinal win over Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham.

Brooklyn defeated No. 5 SUNY Old Westbury with a 3-point field goal by junior guard Charnelle Saint Laurent with 2.8 seconds remaining to give Brooklyn a 52-51 victory in the opening round.  Senior guard Lauren Plagainos led all scorers with 23 points in the win.  Plagainos is the leading scorer for Brooklyn averaging 12.6 points per game, followed by Saint Laurent who adds 8.9 points per game.

Stevens (14-13 overall) upset No. 2 Ramapo College (15-11 overall) in its quarterfinal matchup by a score of 62-58.  Stevens received 17 points each from seniors Dawn Garcia and Victoria Webber and another 16 points from sophomore Avis Benjamin from their top scorers.  The trio average almost 40 points a game and provide a potent offense.

Tale of the Tape: Team-by-Team Comparisons